28 Tuesday Jul 2015
Posted in Mention Monday
Tags
armada, audible, Book, book review of armada, ernest cline, ready player one, review, wil wheaton
Last MM: The Z Chronicles
I am a huge fan of Ready Player One. It is easily one of my favorite books of all time. So you can imagine how eagerly I awaited the release of Armada. By now, you’ve probably heard some mixed reviews about this book. Well, you can add this one to that list, because I know I feel a bit mixed myself.
*spoilers* Continue reading
24 Tuesday Mar 2015
Posted in Mention Monday
Tags
amazon, amazon ranking, author, author service, best seller, bookbub, promotion, reader, review, the alien chronicles
Last Week’s MM: Cluster Headaches
There has been a lot of buzz about Bookbub lately. If you’re a reader, you can subscribe to their mailing list and get updates about deeply discounted or free books.
If you’re a writer, well, I hear that getting a Bookbub ad can be career changing. I haven’t had the opportunity to use Bookbub yet, but I’ve heard great things. And yesterday, I saw it in action. Recently, I was included in an anthology called The A.I. Chronicles. This was the 4th anthology released by The Future Chronicles. Yesterday, the anthology that came before mine, The Alien Chronicles, had a Bookbub. And wow, did it have an impact! By the end of the night, The Alien Chronicles was #6 on ALL of Amazon. And beyond that, the other stories in The Future Chronicles series got a boost, and even my sales on my stories got a little boost.
One of the hardest things for authors is visibility. Bookbub is expensive, but I’ve never heard about anyone regretting getting it, or really even losing money. Hopefully some day they’ll accept me and give me an ad. I might wait until I have more of a backlist to try.
But whether your a reader or writer, they have something to offer.
17 Tuesday Feb 2015
Posted in Mention Monday
Last Week’s MM: Elena E. Giorgi
![An Unwelcome Quest: Magic 2.0, Book 3 | [Scott Meyer]](https://i2.wp.com/ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51-3EpTGogL._SL300_.jpg)
A few weeks ago I mentioned Off to Be the Wizard and Spell or High Water. Well, the third book in the series has come out, An Unwelcome Quest, and it didn’t disappoint. In some ways, I think this may be the best of the three. The first book was good, but a bit predictable. The second book was also interesting, although the bad guy didn’t make much sense to me, or, at lest, I felt that there could have been better villains. But I can’t really think of any problems with the third. I listened to the book in about 2 days. I also really like the narrator for this series.
I’m really enjoying this world and this concept. I feel like it has endless possibilities. Scott Meyer can’t release them fast enough for me. I hope that the series keeps going, and I can’t wait to see what’s next.
27 Tuesday Jan 2015
Posted in Mention Monday
Last Week’s MM: Gone Girl – Movie
I’ve recently been enjoying a genre that seems to be gaining in popularity. Or maybe there’s just a new abundance of it. I’m not sure exactly what this genre is called, or if it has a title, but I like to call it Science Fantasy.
Think Ready Player One. That sort of thing. A story where you get the fantasy elements made possible by science. Add a splash of geek (usually) and there ya go: fresh, fun genre.
(That’s not to say that this book is anything like Ready Player One. It’s not. Only saying that they share a basis of fantasy made possible by science.)
This story is about a guy who accidentally discovers that life, the world, existence, all of it, is actually just a simulation. But the story doesn’t go where I’d expect it to. Usually, in that situation, you find a protagonist depressed about their existence, trying to find out who made them and why, or trying to escape. Not in this book. Our main character, Martin, decides to do what we all probably really would do in that situation: get some money. But, this quickly gets him into trouble, so, of course he does the next rational thing: goes back to the middle ages to live as a wizard. Continue reading
20 Tuesday Jan 2015
Posted in Mention Monday
Last Week’s MM: All Things Unlimited
I’ve heard from a great many people that Gone Girl is just amazing. That it’s a must see or a must read. I browsed the book a little at the bookstore, but the writing wasn’t a style that jumped out at me as something I could pay attention to. Not saying it was bad, just not for me. I contemplated seeing the movie, but hadn’t yet gotten around to it. Finally, Honest Trailers put up video about Gone Girl. And, while I love Honest Trailers, I didn’t want to be biased by it, so I figured it was best to watch the movie first. That night, I rented the movie.
All that said, I really enjoyed it. I’m not much of a thriller kind of person, although, I’m trying to get more into that genre. But it made me wonder what was going to happen throughout the movie, even after the part where you think they’ve told you everything. It also made me a little uncomfortable to watch while sitting next to my boyfriend. Hopefully he neither wants to split my head open, nor thinks that I want bad things for him. I don’t want to go into too much detail on this movie. There’s the possibility of spoilers, and honestly, unless I’m complaining a lot, it’s not really worth going into details. Not that there weren’t a couple points to say ‘huh?’ to, I just don’t think that they were big enough to warrant going into.
For some reason, that movie stuck with me. It occupied my thoughts as I went to sleep that night, and still lingered in the morning. I think that’s the hallmark of a good thriller. Whether it makes you think or creeps you out, the point is, it stays with you.
23 Tuesday Dec 2014
Posted in Mention Monday
Last Week’s MM: Hearthstone
I recently saw The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies. It’s a strange thing to walk away from a Lord of The Rings movie feeling like it needed to be longer. But, I found the movie to be lacking. Not sure how to better say it.
***MAJOR SPOILERS*** Continue reading
13 Saturday Dec 2014
Tags
arc, first chapter, free book, free ebook, looking for readers, otherworlders, preview, read, review
I know that this should be flash fiction friday, but I’ve been a bit busy working on several projects, and today got away from me. Sorry. However, in case you missed it before, I am looking for reader/reviewers for Otherworlders. So here’s the first chapter. If you’re interested in reading the whole book in exchange for an honest review, please email me at fictionbyangela @gmail.com
CHAPTER ONE
Kara awoke with a start, lying naked under a thin sheet. Continue reading
02 Tuesday Dec 2014
Posted in Mention Monday
Tags
automata, bad scifi, good scifi, gravity, interstellar, kevin spacey, lucy, mention, Moon, movie, older movie, review, sam rockwell, snowpiercer, the martian
Last Week’s MM: The Future Chronicles
I’m sure that you’ve heard of a lot of bad scifi movies. Lucy comes to mind. Could have been good, but, eh, wasn’t developed enough. Same with Snowpeircer. And I read and heard such bad reviews about Automata that I didn’t even give it a chance. They have a lot in common: Big names, great concepts, not the best delivery.
Can you even imagine how many truly awful scifi films are made that you never hear of? It’s a lot, I’m sure.
But the other day, my fella showed me a movie called Moon. It was released in 2009, got great reviews, and stared Sam Rockwell and the voice of Kevin Spacey. I thought it was so strange that I had never heard of it.
We watched it. I looked at a trailer prior to watching, and the trailer gave away a little too much. But, all in all, I think it was a good movie. I’ve been into space stuff lately: Interstellar, Gravity, The Martian… so this was right in that vein.
Makes me wonder if there is any other good scifi out there that I’ve never heard of. I’d bet there is. Got any recommendations? Let me know.
25 Tuesday Nov 2014
Posted in Writing Wednesday
Tags
anthologies, anthology, future, hugh howey, matthew mather, review, short stories, the future chronicles, the robot chronicles, the telepath chronicles
Last Week’s MM: Write On
I’ve been seeing an increase in anthologies lately. They, and short stories, are making an impact on the writing scene.
Anthologies are great things. They allow authors to explore certain topics or genres. They can pair newer, but worthy, writers with established ones, and introduce readers to authors that they may not have otherwise found.
One great example of this is The Future Chronicles.
The first of these, The Robot Chronicles, explores how robots might be in the future. It has stories from Hugh Howey and Matthew Mather, two of my favorites, as well as a great many other authors who I hadn’t had an opportunity to read before. It was a quick read. The stories are each short, but intriguing and impossible to put down.
The second installment is the recently released The Telepath Chronicles. This book has another fantastic offering of authors. It explores the possibility of mind-to-mind communication. As of writing this, I’ve only started reading this one, but I’m certain that I won’t be disappointed.
These books are arranged by Samuel Peralta, a talented author. The future of The Future Chronicles isn’t to stop at 2. They will keep going. And I can’t wait to see what the future holds!
11 Tuesday Nov 2014
Posted in Mention Monday
Tags
Last MM: NaNoWriMo
Last week I went to see Interstellar. This is a movie that has a lot of hype around it, and a lot of expectations. Although, going in, I wasn’t really sure what kind of movie I was seeing. Hard Scifi? Suspense? Some sort of thing about the relationships that people have?
I think that it was a good movie. I don’t know if it was something that has to be seen in theaters. Although, I will say that the sound adds a lot to the movie, so, might be worth it just for that.
The movie had it’s high points and not some not so great things. I’ll admit, this movie made me cry. Which isn’t easy to do. And that was near the beginning.
Read on for more detailed info about the movie. And I mean detailed. ****SPOILERS!!****
Angela Cavanaugh 